Page 10 of Calder Country

“Experienced in the ways of the world? You mean, on the shady side of the law?”

“That’s not at all what I meant, Ruby. I meant cultured. The kind of man who knows the right kind of wine to order in a restaurant. A man who’s done some traveling, maybe some reading.”

“Dad, you could be describing a typical con artist.”

“Or maybe just someone who knows what he wants and how to get it. I’d just like to see you happy again, with a man who appreciates your worth. Maybe you should have been friendlier with the fellow, gotten to know him better.”

“I found him annoying. That was as much as I wanted to know.”

“Well, since he didn’t measure up to your standards, I met a man who would. While you were in the air, I was talking with Webb Calder, who owns that big ranch. He’s as rich as King Midas, and he’s a widower. Hand me that small flashlight, will you?”

Ruby found the flashlight in the tool bag. “Stop trying to match me up, Dad. I’m quite happy as I am. And Webb Calder could probably have any lady who caught his fancy. Why should he be interested in someone like me—a woman pushing thirty with no fine manners and grease under her fingernails?”

She reached up and passed him the light. “What did the two of you talk about?” she asked, shifting the subject.

“We had an interesting conversation.” Art focused the thin beam of light into the engine. “Calder agreed with me that aviation is the way of the future. He’s already looking into building an airstrip and a hangar on his ranch. He asked me what he’d need to get set up, and I told him. But I advised him to wait on the planes. The Jennies are easy to buy and operate, but the new models coming out of Europe are sturdier, faster, and more efficient—like that fleet of De Havillands the post office bought from Britain to carry the mail.”

“I take it he didn’t offer you a job,” Ruby said.

“His plans weren’t that far along, or he might have. Anyway, I’ve already got a job. We’ll be meeting with some key people tonight in Miles City. This could be a big turning point in our lives, girl.” He probed deeper into the engine. “I think I’ve found the problem. Dollars to doughnuts, it’s a speck of dirt in the fuel line. Once I get it cleared out, she’ll be running like new.”

Ruby stood back and watched him work. Art was the eternal optimist, always cheerful, always counting on the luckiest outcome. But life had taught Ruby that nothing was guaranteed, and that heartbreak was just as likely as the rainbow around the bend.

Looking back over the field, she saw that her passenger’s long legs had carried him all the way across to the far side. He must have been moving fast, as if he had somewhere urgent to go.

Up there in the sky, they had faced death together. Afterward, he’d made a joke of the experience, as if that sort of thing happened to him every day. Ruby had never learned the intriguing stranger’s name. But that didn’t matter. He was already gone from her life.

* * *

The four people who’d lined up for rides were still waiting at the edge of the field. Mason had agreed to pass on the message that the engine would soon be repaired. But additional flights could still be risky. Any passenger who climbed into that cockpit would be taking their life in their hands. He owed them the truth.

The first two in line were cowboys that Mason didn’t recognize. Next to them stood Britta—what a surprise. Mason would never have guessed the woman had an adventurous streak. He was about to speak to her when she silenced him with a sharp look.

Standing a few paces behind her, his gaze fixed on the plane, was Joseph.

Mason would have known his son anywhere. Joseph had been a boy of fourteen when they’d last met. He was inches taller now, still filling out through the chest and shoulders. With his rangy frame and dark hair, he resembled his late grandfather, Joe Dollarhide, Mason’s father, who’d founded the family dynasty and built the rambling log home on the bluff overlooking the valley.

In his younger years, Mason had spent time with his father’s second family, sharing good memories with Joe, his wife, Sarah, and their children, Blake and Kristin. But over the years, alienation had taken root and grown bitter. Now, for Mason, seeing Joseph was like seeing a younger version of Joe Dollarhide—the man he remembered from his childhood.

He felt a firm hand on his arm as Britta guided him out of hearing, behind a row of parked autos. The blue eyes that leveled with his own were like tempered steel. “I told you to leave Joseph alone, Mason,” she said. “He doesn’t need you in his life.”

“I understand, Britta. I already said I’d respect the family’s wishes. But I didn’t expect to see him today. What’s he doing here?”

“If you must know, Joseph is crazy to fly. He’s never been up in a plane, but all he talks about is wanting to become a pilot. No one could have stopped him from coming here today.”

“I can imagine how Blake must feel about that. But what about you? Are you planning to switch careers?”

“Hardly.” She lowered her gaze a moment, looking almost like a wistful young girl. “Don’t laugh. I’ve spent most of my life looking after others—my family, my students. I’ve never had a real adventure. I thought maybe it was time.”

“So you brought Joseph along?”

“No. I came by myself. He just showed up, and I couldn’t make him leave. All I could do was make him promise that he’d let me go first, to make sure the plane was safe. If I decide the ride is too dangerous, then I won’t allow the pilot to take him.”

“Then you need to hear what I came to say. That plane is a death trap. The engine quit while we were in the air. The woman who was at the controls couldn’t start it again, so she had to glide to a landing. It was scary as hell. We could have crashed. You need to tell Joseph and those two cowboys.”

Britta turned away, shaded her eyes, and looked out across the field. Following the line of her gaze, he saw the plane, its propeller a spinning blur, taxiing over the ground. The two cowboys were nowhere in sight. Joseph stood alone, waiting at the field’s edge.

CHAPTER FOUR

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